Just a Trim
by starrynightshade
Summary: Skye and Jemma aren't exactly hair masters. Luckily, Melinda May is.


Skye was getting more than a little frustrated. In a moment of sheer impulsiveness the independent young woman had managed to cut herself a decent set of bangs with the help of only a youtube tutorial and a pair of office scissors. At least, she thought they had been decent until she saw the way they fell unevenly into her eyes.

She let out small sigh before determinedly picking the scissors back up. She was about to have a second go at the unruly hairs when the door flew open.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize you where in here. I'll just-" Jemma babbled before her eyes went wide. "Oh, Skye. What have you done?"

"I needed a change." Skye said shortly. She didn't feel like telling her friend why. Nobody needed to know that she couldn't stand to look in the mirror and see the girl that had loved- still loved- a traitor. So she chalked it up to boredom and pleaded with her friend for assistance.

"I don't know. I've never done this before." Jemma said, shaking her head.

"Simmons, you've literally saved my life. I think trimming my hair should be doable."

"I suppose." Simmons said, taking the scissors from her hand as if they were a venomous snake being offered to her.

She decided to start by trimming the back as it left more margin for error that the bangs did. When she was finished, she took a step back to examine the result. The biochemist's hands immediately flew up to cover mouth, which was hanging agape in horror.

"Oh, it's terrible." She lamented. "I'm so sorry! I never should have-"

"It can't be that bad." Skye said, picking up a handheld mirror and using it to see what the other girl was fussing about. "Oh." She said flatly. "Really, Simmons? You can perform surgery, but you can't trim hair in a straight line?"

"Well excuse me for not having a PhD in hair trimming!" She said, slamming the scissors down onto the bathroom counter.

"Okay, we can fix this." Skye said, picking the scissors back up and looking at herself in the mirror.

"Don't even think about it." Came an authoritative voice from the doorway.

"May!" Jemma exclaimed looking like she'd been caught reading past her bedtime. "I was just… we where…umm…Skye wanted to…"

May just cocked a disapproving eyebrow at Skye, who gingerly placed the scissors in her outstretched hand.

"Where did you learn to do this?" The hacker asked as the older agent snipped away at the dark tendrils of hair behind her back.

"Slovakia." She said. "There aren't exactly a ton of opportunities to hit the salon when you're on a deep cover mission for eight months."

"Who taught you then?" Jemma asked, still studiously tracking every move of the scissors in May's hand.

"I did." The corners of her mouth tugged upwards at the memory. Her hair had been jagged and uneven for a month afterwards, but her next attempt had yielded much better results. Like her mother always said, failure is just the solid ground that a skill is built on.

"Really?" Skye couldn't help the admiration that seeped into her voice.

"Yes. Now, hold still." She said, moving on to the lopsided bangs that were far too long.

Both girls remained silent as she evened out Skye's poorly executed haircut.

"There. All done."

"May! It looks awesome!" Skye said, suddenly throwing her arms around the petite woman. May couldn't push down the affection she felt for the young woman in front of her- either of them.

"Alright, your turn Simmons." May said once Sky had released her.

"I don't think I need-"

"Just a trim. I might as well take care of your split ends while the scissors are out."

"So what happened?" Skye asked, perching on the counter while bits of chestnut hair floated to the floor. "In Slovakia, I mean."

May grinned, before launching into the story. Both girls where hanging on her every word as she recounted the events of a mission that had taken place lifetimes ago. It was a nice story; one where the good guys won and the bad guys lost and nobody felt empty and betrayed afterward. Skye liked it, and found that it comforted her long after the scissors had been put away and the floor had been swept. When she was in her bed at night, tossing and turning and never finding sleep, all she had to do was reach for the memory and let the ebb and flow of May's voice calm her restless mind. She knew that it was going to be okay.


End file.
